


Finding One's Self Upon A Grain Of Sand

by luminousblade



Series: The Soulbound Series [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Sentinel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sentinels & Guides, Alternate Universe - Sentinels and Guides Are Known, Anal Sex, Barebacking, M/M, Rimming, Sentinel/Guide Bonding, Soul Bond, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-26
Updated: 2014-05-24
Packaged: 2018-01-20 22:29:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1527998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luminousblade/pseuds/luminousblade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At this point in his life, hiding had become as easy as breathing for Tony Stark; he hid his irritation with the press, his needs, his wants, his pain, his scars...  With all the practice he'd gotten over the years, hiding should be EASY.  Stark men were Sentinels, they always had been and always would be...too bad no one told that to the blond Captain who'd been hunting after him all day; the one who made his breath catch and his shields fluctuate as he struggled to keep them together.  Hiding should be easy, but was now the hardest thing he'd ever done, especially when Tony was faced with the one thing he desperately wanted but never thought he could ever have:  the other half of his soul.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first foray into this fandom and I'm super excited. I also love the concept of Sentinels/Guides and have only come across one fic with this fusion though I hope there will be more in the future. I haven't written anything in quite a while and am rusty so hopefully this turns out okay! Un-beta'd.

_**New York, New York, 1940** _

  
Steve Rogers was having a bad day, not that there had been many good ones lately but still, things could have been going better. He’d been on his way home from yet another failed enlistment attempt when he’d heard screaming and the faint sounds of a scuffle; running back the way he’d just traveled, Steve came upon a woman being mugged in the alleyway behind the recruitment center he’d just been ejected from. Not stopping to think, the blond grabbed a nearby piece of wood from one of the trash piles waiting for pick up and swung; he didn’t have the strength to do much damage but it did have the benefit of distracting the man long enough for the terrified woman to get away.

  
That was when things had gotten…rough. Breathing already labored and swaying slightly from the effort of staying on his feet, Steve found he no longer had the energy to dodge the fist that was yet again headed his way. It was times like this that he couldn’t help but think that life would be a lot easier, and certainly less painful, if he’d been willing to just run away once in a while. Closing his eyes, the skinny blond turned his head in an effort to at least prevent his nose from being broken but instead of the expected hit, he heard a startled oath and turned back to see two of the officers from the center had the mugger down on the ground while the woman he’d saved stood at the mouth of the alley with a third.

  
Staggering a little with fatigue, Steve made his way over to the woman; no matter how much pain he was currently in, he at least wanted to make sure she hadn’t been hurt before he had to drag himself home to lick his wounds. “Are you alright, ma’am?”

  
“Oh my goodness, I should be asking you that! Are you okay? Oh, what am I saying; you’re bleeding, of course you aren’t.”

  
Up close Steve could see the woman was perhaps in her fifties with her brunette hair going slightly gray at the temples and as she pulled a handkerchief out of her purse in order to dab his lip, he couldn’t help but think of his own mother. The spike of pain was sudden but not entirely unexpected as it had only been a few months since he’d sat at his mother’s bedside, holding her hand as she lost her fight with the pneumonia that had struck her hard and fast. Shaking off his melancholy, Steve reached up and caught the woman’s wrist in a gentle grip before she could move to blot at any of the other cuts he was now sporting as a result of his intervention.

  
“Thank you for your concern but that really isn’t necessary; I’ll be fine.” He gave her a small smile before releasing her and taking a step back.

  
“Oh, but really-“ Looking distressed, she made to step forward in order to close the gap but stopped when the soldier she was with laid a hand on her arm.

  
“Excuse me, Mr. Rogers? It would really make us both feel better if you’d at least allow me to see to your injuries.” The man said with a smile. “It’s really the least I can do after you helped my mom.” His grin then got bigger. “It would be better if you just gave in; she’ll just hound you until you do anyway. Trust me on this; it would be less painful if you just surrendered now.”

  
Huffing out a soft laugh, Steve shrugged and allowed himself to be steered back into the recruitment building and into one of the rooms he’d so recently vacated in order to be tended to. Thirty minutes later, after having just buttoned his shirt for the second time, the door opened again and an older gentleman in a white coat stepped into the room with what looked to be a three inch thick medical file. Setting the folder aside the man then stood and stared at the young man before him, saying nothing, until the blond sighed and reached for his jacket.

  
“If you’re here to tell me how unsuitable I am for the military, you don’t have to bother; I was here earlier and received the lecture then.”

  
“I am afraid you are mistaken, Mr. Rogers, I am not here to deliver a lecture.”

  
“No? As you can see I’ve already had my injuries tended to and while I’m aware the majority of people consider what I did foolish, I don’t feel that way and don’t need a lecture on that either.”

  
“I don’t think it was foolish and I would never presume to tell you so.”

  
Steve paused in his effort to button his jacket and looked the man in the eye. “Then what? Because honestly, I can’t think of another reason why I would warrant another visit. I doubt very much this is a social call, Mr.-?”

  
“Erskine.” The man took a step forward, extending his hand. “Dr. Abraham Erskine. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Rogers, and no, this isn’t a social call.”

  
Shaking the hand offered, Steve then tilted his head to the side. “The pleasure is mine, Doctor. What can I do for you?”

  
“Ah, the purpose of my visit is not what you can do for me, but perhaps what I can do for you.”

  
“I don’t follow.”

  
“First allow me to ask you a question, if I may.”

  
Nodding his head, Steve resumed his seat at the Doctor’s motion and watched as the file, left previously untouched, was picked up and rifled through. After a moment, Dr. Erskine looked up and adjusted his glasses. “You have been to no less than seven different recruiting centers around the New York area in the last two months, all under different names; an act that could land you in a great deal of trouble with the law.”

  
Opening his mouth, Steve didn’t even manage the token protest he had prepared before Erskine lifted a hand for silence and continued. “None of that concerns me and isn’t any of my business anyway; I’m certainly not going to turn you in for it. Understood?” Receiving a nod in reply, the doctor placed the file back down and took a breath. “Good. Now for my question. What I would like to know is why, out of all the times you’ve tried this, did you never tell anyone that you are a Sentinel?”

  
Well that was unexpected. Damn. Blue eyes closed and a grimace passed across his face before the younger male opened them and motioned to himself with a small wave of his hand. “I did try, once, but when you look this…well. I don’t exactly seem the type and being threatened with legal action if I persist with my lies…” He shrugged. “It wasn’t worth protesting it and anyone who ever sees it listed on any of my files assumes it’s just a clerical error. It doesn’t matter anymore what I say, or that my need to protect the tribe is every bit as strong as any other Sentinel; I’ll never be believed; not as long as I look as though a stiff wind will blow me over.”

  
Nodding as though that’s what he expected Dr. Erskine looked the blond over once more and picked up the file. “And that’s why I’m here, Mr. Rogers; allow me to tell you about Project: Rebirth.”

* * *

  
 _**Long Island, New York, 1992** _

  
Tony sat in the corner, shoulders hunched up by his ears, as he continued to work on a half finished circuit board for a project he was no longer interested in completing. Putting down the screwdriver in favor of a soldering iron and another handful of wires, he couldn’t stop the flinch or his reflexive squeezing of the tool as the argument raging in the study down the hall increased in volume yet again. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t used to the fighting; his parents had never felt the need to shield him from their arguments, unlike the rest of the world, as Tony had figured out at the young age of three that keeping their public image was far more important to them than the home environment they kept for their only son. Truth be told, Tony was fairly inured to it all; there are even times he’s surprised his first words came out normally instead of in a yell.

  
Hunching down in his seat even farther than before, the young genius brought the iron back to the board in order to make another connection and instead burnt himself as he jerked in surprise when the sound of something breaking filtered down the hall. Scowling in disgust, Tony stuck his singed finger in his mouth and unplugged the offending tool, hopping down from his perch to instead flop into an armchair on the other side of the room. This entire week just sucked; there should be a rule for that. Weeks that have already gone to hell shouldn’t be allowed to continue that way; they should be filled with technology and earth shattering discoveries. At the very least there should be ice cream, it was only fair. Pulling his finger out from between his lips to assess the damage, the sulking brunette decided it wasn’t any worse than any other time he’d injured himself…but it still sucked. I mean, it wasn’t like he’d gotten the injury in the name of science or anything; those were the only ones that were acceptable in Tony’s mind.

  
The week had started out decent enough: he’d run circles around his private instructors, as per his usual, finished the software upgrades for the new satellite systems he hoped to build and have launched, and had begun the preliminary work on a low level functioning AI. All that had changed with the visit to the local Sentinel/Guide center, however. Typically children were tested for the genes anywhere between ages ten and fifteen, though those with established genetic lines were always seen on the younger end of the age scale and Tony Stark was a product of one of those lines.

  
The center itself was situated just outside of the city proper with enough space and isolation to provide the Sentinels it harbored a buffer between them and the rest of the world while they wrestled with their senses and/or searched for a Guide. Walking into the building behind his father’s majordomo, Mr. Burnsley, Tony looked around and decided that, even if he preferred living in the city, that there was something very soothing about the location; maybe it was all of the guides located on site.

  
“Mr. Stark?” Pulled from his thoughts, Tony looked up to see a neatly put together woman in a gray, pinstriped suit approach Mr. Burnsley with her hand stretched out in front of her. “My name is Andrea Norse, I’m the director here over Sentinel/Guide testing.”

  
Completing the handshake, Mr. Burnsley offered the woman a small smile. “I’m afraid Mr. Stark was unable to be here today; he had a meeting that couldn’t be rescheduled. I’m Albert Burnsley, Mr. Stark’s majordomo; I believe we spoke together on the phone a few days ago.”

  
Tuning out the small talk currently taking place, Tony just rolled his eyes and went back to inspecting the space and everyone in it. Of course his father wasn’t here. It never failed to amaze the young genius that people thought they’d rate otherwise, that whatever they were doing or needed would warrant a personal visit. Testing his only son for the Sentinel/Guide genes was only a formality for what everyone already knew; Tony would be a Sentinel like every Stark man before him. Why would his father show up for a result he was already aware of? Sensing that the conversation going on behind him was coming to an end, Tony turned back to find the director, Ms. Norse, looking at him with a smile.

  
“Hello, Tony. If you’ll just come with me we’ll get the testing started.”

  
Walking down the hallway towards an elevator, Tony remained silent as Ms. Norse talked about the history of the center and how testing had improved over the years, nothing he hadn’t read for himself online. Their first stop was to the medical wing of the center where a cheek swab was taken to add Tony’s DNA profile to the genealogical files the center kept on all currently known Sentinel and Guide families. They then went up two floors and walked past several closed doors before entering a room painted a soothing array of blues and greens where the woman who would be overseeing his testing was already waiting. Motioning Tony into the room ahead of her, the director waited until he took a seat on one of the couches before offering him another smile.

  
“Tony, this is Natalie; she’s a high level Guide and she’ll be doing your testing today. I have to go help with a newly discovered latent coming in but when Natalie’s done, she’ll bring you back to me so that we can discuss your results and then set you up with some of the pre-lessons and training for future Sentinels.”

  
Nodding to show he understood, Tony then watched as the director left the room, closing the door behind her, before turning to Natalie. They stared at each other in silence for a moment until Tony raised an eyebrow at which point the Guide offered him a grin.

  
“You look a great deal like your father but I’m sure you hear that a lot.”

  
“Yeah. Kind of hard to miss the resemblance, what with his face plastered over nearly every available surface lately. “

  
The grin got a little wider. “It is at that.” She sobered and straightened in her chair. “I’m going to explain a little about the testing and you can ask me any questions you want before we get started, okay?”

  
Getting a nod, Natalie crossed her legs and relaxed back into her seat. “As you probably know, Sentinels and Guides have additional portions of their brains active in a way that other people, mundanes, don’t and that activity can be scanned and measured. This is done in two ways: either by use of a specially adapted MRI machine, which takes a little longer and is more expensive, or as in this case, a guide with a high enough rating, like me, can simply perform the scan instead. Now, what I’m going to do is drop my primary shield in order to scan the portions of your brain that account for Sentinel/Guide gifts. It may feel a little funny but I promise it won’t hurt at all and it will be over fairly quickly. Any questions?”

  
“What exactly are you looking for when you do this scan?”

  
“Good question. I’ll be looking firstly for any of the small flares of activity that mark a latent Sentinel or Guide and, if I find any, I’ll then do a slightly deeper scan to see if I can determine how close you are to coming online. Any other questions?”

  
Tony shook his head and slouched down a little; it was all fairly straight forward and he could always save additional questions for the director when he went to talk about the lessons she’d mentioned. It wasn’t like he worried that he wouldn’t test as latent; pretty much everyone knew this was nothing more than a formality, a way to officially register his status with not only the center but the government as well.

  
“Ok, Tony, I’m going to start the scan now so just try and relax for me, alright?”

  
After a moment spent in silence, Tony could actually feel when Natalie began; it felt weird, like that day at the amusement park when he’d rode the barrel ride too many times in a row. He was a little light headed and felt like he was caught in that weightless moment between being airborne and getting dropped back to the ground; it was unanticipated but not entirely unpleasant. A few minutes later Natalie sat back, a startled look on her face but before Tony could ask her what was wrong, a commotion out in the hallway drew his attention and as Natalie stood to see what was going on, he was hit with the most intense pain he’d ever known. After that, things got a little sketchy. He wasn’t sure how long the pain lasted but he did know that after a while he couldn’t take anymore and had simply passed out. Upon waking there had been a great deal of talk about an unexpected empathic event and shields and conservators and he’d been placed in a room with Natalie until his father had been called. That conversation…had not gone well.

  
Another loud crash and the sound of a door slamming brought Tony up out of his thoughts with a wince. Putting fingers to his throbbing temples, he lowered his head to his knees. Why was this so hard? It wasn’t the first fight he’d been subjected to and it certainly wouldn’t be the last and if he could just find some way to block all of those feelings…well. That was the real crux of the matter, wasn’t it? Because two days ago Anthony Edward Stark, latest in a long line of Starks, a family line that had been producing Sentinels for generation upon generation…had unexpectedly come online as a Guide.


	2. Moving Forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was totally determined to get this chapter out today and I'm glad I managed it! Thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments; they meant the world to me! It was so much more than I had expected, especially for the first chapter. this chapter is so, so un-beta'd. You have been warned.

_**Somewhere over the North Atlantic, 1945** _

The plane was going to go down and there was nothing Steve could do about it; between the near disastrous take off as the last HYDRA base was destroyed and the damage incurred as he’d fought to stop Schmidt there really was no other way for this flight to end. The only thing he could do was ensure no one else was hurt; one last way to protect the tribe. At least Erskine had made it possible for Steve to be able to do that; the serum he’d come up with as a part of Project: Rebirth had exceeded expectations and gave the skinny boy from Brooklyn the chance to do what he’d been born to do, to be the Sentinel he’d been born to be. It was too bad Erskine wasn’t here to see all the good he’d done; Steve thinks he would have been proud.

Looking out over the rapidly approaching expanse of icy water, the Sentinel couldn’t help but be grateful that he’d never found a Guide and bonded; he couldn’t imagine the pain of being the one half of a bonded pair left behind. Well, it didn’t matter now. Getting on the still functioning radio, Steve said his goodbyes to his friends and prepared to crash the plane into the ocean. In this a Sentinel’s duty was clear: one life to be sacrificed to save the lives of many more; the good of the pride came first. It always came first. As the plane crashed into the frigid water, the Captain had a moment to lament that he’d never gotten the hot shower he’d wanted upon his return before the cold began slowing his heart and everything went dark.

* * *

 

_**Tony- 2011** _

_There was sand everywhere, which was odd as only about thirty percent of Afghanistan was covered in desert; it was perfect for the weapon’s demonstration he had planned, however. Rhodey had been mother-henning him since he’d disembarked from the military transport they’d hitched a ride on so, in retaliation, Tony made sure to ride with the rookies. The ride out to the testing site had been fun in its own way and showing off the Jericho even better; as always, Tony Stark was a weapons GOD. I mean, really, total rockstar._

_Satisfied that all the military bigwigs were happy, Tony turned back towards the convoy and found himself alone. Frowning in confusion the genius peeked inside the nearest vehicle before walking to the other side; still no one. Clamping down on his growing alarm, Tony turned around and bit back a very un-dignified yelp as he nearly ran face first into the back of the rookie he’d been sitting with only an hour before. He lifted a hand and clapped it to the young soldier’s shoulder as he moved around to face him._

_“Jesus, Kid; you nearly scared me to-!” Choking off the rest of the sentence, Tony stumbled back as he got a good look at the kid’s face…or rather what was left of it. The left side of it was just…gone, melted off so that the musculature and bits of bone were left visible amongst the bloody wreckage. Swallowing hard against the bile rising in the back of his throat, Tony could only watch in horror as what was left of the young man’s visage twisted up into a sick parody of a smile._

_“I nearly what? Scared you to death?” He took a slow, shambling step forward and then pointed to the middle of Tony’s chest. “Too late.”_

_The genius looked down as he was hit with a sudden, overwhelming wave of pain and found his entire chest covered in the blood that was gushing out from a hole where his sternum should have been. Dropping to his knees in shock, Tony looked back up at the rookie as he shuffled closer and realized that the rest of the troops were there now as well; all dead and with various body parts missing, their blood mingling with the sand. The kid offered him another grisly smile before his face morphed and he changed into Obadiah. Reaching out, Stane casually wrapped his hand around Tony’s throat and squeezed._

_“Don’t worry, Mr. Stark, we’ll take good care of you. You belong with us.”_

* * *

 

Tony shot upright on his bed with a choked off scream, shaking and covered in sweat, and sat there breathing hard while his heart hammered painfully in his chest behind the arc reactor.

_“Sir? Are you alright?”_

Rubbing one still shaking hand over his face, Tony closed his eyes and took a steadying breath. “Its fine, Jarvis, I’m fine, I’m just-“ Images flashed behind his eyelids of bone and blood and death and the inventor was off the bed like a shot, barely making it to the bathroom before expelling everything he’d put in his stomach over the last twenty-four hours. Granted that wasn’t much but by the time Tony was done, he was still left aching and pale. Pulling himself off of the floor, he quickly rinsed out his mouth and then splashed water on his face before glancing at his reflection in the mirror.

_“Sir? Do you require any assistance?”_

Giving himself a humorless smile, the engineer straightened up and left the bathroom. “No, Jarvis, I’m fine. Just another day in the life of Tony Stark.”

* * *

 

_**2012** _

_“Sir?”_

“Carry the five or was that the six?”

_“Sir?”_

“Now where the hell did I leave that torch?”

_“Excuse me, sir.”_

“Hmm? Busy here, Jarvis.”

_“My apologies, sir, but there is an Agent Coulson here to see you.”_

Frowning a little, Tony began digging around the piles on his workbench. “I told you I didn’t want to be disturbed today.”

_“Yes sir, I have already relayed your instructions to him but he is quite insistent that he must speak with you.”_

“Busy.”

_“Sir-“_

Finally finding the hand torch, the brunette grabbed a pair of goggles and moved back over to the partially disassembled engine he’d been working on all morning. “JARVIS; I am BUSY. I do not care if man eating plants are overrunning the city, Nick Fury’s eye has spontaneously grown back or if the sky is raining coffee-“ a pause “actually, if the sky ever starts raining coffee you are ordered to inform me immediately so that I might partake in the bounty. I mean, that would be a miracle of epic proportions and should be appreciated in the appropriate manner…with donuts or cake or maybe those froofie little bon bons that Pepper likes, but I digress. The point is that I am busy which means I am unavailable which means I DO NOT CARE. Now tell him to go away and come back never.”

Jarvis was silent for a moment before letting out a nearly inaudible sigh. _“Yes, Sir.”_

Pulling the goggles into place, Tony lit the torch and got back to work pausing only long enough to take a swig of coffee and change positions in order to attack his upgrades from a different angle. He wasn’t sure how long he continued on like that, humming along with the rock music playing in the background before he turned around and came face to face with Agent Coulson. Flailing back in surprise, the scientist stood blinking for a moment before he shot the other man a nasty look and cut the music.

“I really do need to speak with you, Mr. Stark.”

“JARVIS!”

_“I truly am sorry, sir. He overrode my protocols and let himself into the workshop.”_

“And you didn’t think to warn me…WHY?”

_“You informed me that you did not wish to be disturbed, Sir.”_

Blinking a moment as he processed that answer, Tony moved to refill his coffee cup and took a gulp of the too hot liquid. “Did you just sass me? Really? I don’t remember programming you with attitude.” He stood thinking for a moment, tapping the fingers of one hand against the arc reactor. “Was I drunk at the time? I bet I was drunk.”

“Mr. Stark-“

Letting out a sigh, the genius ran a hand down his face and turned. “You know I hate being called that; it makes me think of my father and those are not happy thoughts to be having. Seriously. And really, what is so damned important that you felt the need to break in? I assume if I tell you to leave you’ll just laugh in my face and threaten me with bodily harm via an ink pen or something.”

“I’ve come to speak with you about the Avengers Initiative.”

Tony scoffed and turned back to his workbench to pull up a schematic. “What’s there to talk about? Fury has already made it clear that he doesn’t want me as part of his program. Iron Man yes, me no…which still makes absolutely no sense, by the way. I mean, it’s not like he can claim it’s because I’m dying because, you know, I fixed that problem already.” He raised one hand to tap a finger on the arc reactor in his chest. “See? All better.”

Mouth twitching in what, for Coulson, could almost be considered a frown, the Agent moved closer to the other male. “You know that never had anything to do with it; it was because-“

“I’m a narcissistic sociopath?” Tony shot back, crossing his arms. “Or because after Afghanistan I went dormant?” Coulson didn’t flinch but he could tell it was a near thing. “I mean, stock prices took a hit at the news but I expected that. What I didn’t expect was being told-“

“Mr.-“ a breath “Tony. That had nothing to do with it; SHIELD has been and remains one of Stark Industries’ best clients. You know that. And, in any case, things have changed.” Placing the folder that had been previously tucked under an arm in front of the engineer, he then took a step back and clasped his hands in front of him, waiting while the contents were flipped through.

Frowning as he continued to go through the information provided, Tony stopped and lifted out an old black and white photograph of a cube sitting in a laboratory surrounded by various scientists, his father front and center. “The Tesseract I presume; I’ve seen mention of it in a few old notes of Howard’s.” Glancing up to see Coulson’s small nod he put the picture aside and went back to perusing the file. “It was lost back in 1945, I doubt you’ll get anything new out of all this old information.” He pauses and then looks up sharply. “Unless you’ve found it.”

Coulson offers the engineer a small smile. “We’ve found it; and we need your help.”

* * *

 

_**New York, New York- 1945?** _

The sounds of the city were comforting, familiar, and so unexpected that Steve did nothing but lay where he was, soaking up his surroundings. The last thing he clearly remembered was crashing into the ocean and how quickly the water had rushed in to surround him, how cold it had been. Since he obviously was neither drowning nor cold, Steve could safely say that he’d been rescued. The man in him felt a moment of relief…the Sentinel in him was screaming that something was very, very wrong; an observation further supported by the baseball game playing on the radio…a game he’d seen in person before he’d ever even met Dr. Erskine. Quickly taking stock of himself, it was easy to determine that he wasn’t injured or restrained in any way though he had obviously been changed and moved at some point.

Not wanting to alert anyone that he was awake in case he was under surveillance, Steve forced himself to remain still and instead stretched out his sense of hearing, dialing it up a little at a time in order to, hopefully, prevent a zone out. That was always a risk for an unbonded Sentinel but in an unknown environment it could be even more deadly. The first new sounds were immediate and mechanical in nature, the kind he’d heard more than once when working with Howard on new ways to track and monitor HYDRA troops; he was definitely under surveillance then. Good to know. Pushing out a little further got Steve the sounds of footsteps and heartbeats, a lot of heartbeats, but nothing that sounded like medical equipment. So, in a large building but not a hospital; possibly a military installation of some sort, which would explain the surveillance as well as the additional sounds of electronics he could hear permeating each floor above and below his current location. The only question now was whether nor not he was being held by enemies or allies. Time to find out. Steve was beginning to feel the strain of using his abilities without someone to ground his senses on but he couldn’t take the chance he’d been captured so he focused on the nearest conversation to his location and listened.

_“…woken up yet?”_

_“Not yet, he appears to be sleeping. I want you to go in and check on him; I need to let the Director know how soon he can be questioned.”_

_“You’re sure you can handle him once he’s awake?”_

_“He’s just one man and we’ll be fine, we’ve been preparing for this.”_

Steve pulled back and reset his hearing back to its normal range. He hadn’t heard anything that screamed HYDRA but it didn’t sound innocent either. Slitting his eyes open a little he took quick stock of his physical surroundings and waited for the woman he knew was on her way to open the door. He heard a series of locks being opened before the woman in question entered the room clutching a clip board in one hand and a pen in the other, a pen that hummed like the hidden equipment in the room. Not even Howard had been able to make his tech that small and still have it be effective. HYDRA it was then. He waited until the woman moved to lean over him on the bed and then struck out. Grabbing her wrist in his right hand he yanked her up and over the bed while throwing off the blankets he was under with his left. There was no point in going for the door as he’d heard the locks re-engage upon it closing so the wall it was. Crashing through the plaster Steve chose the direction he thought would get him through the building and outside fastest and then ran.

Behind him alarms started going off as men wearing suits and guns began pouring into the hallway from both directions. Unwilling to stop, the sentinel bowled over a group of men that had appeared around the latest corner and then, spying another door at the end of the hall, most likely locked, changed course and ploughed through another wall. The area beyond was like nothing he’d ever seen before; gone were the familiar 1940s furnishings and décor replaced by gleaming steel and glass and enough technology to make Stark sit up and take notice. Definitely not part of the United States military standard which made it even more important that he escape. Continuing his bid for freedom, Steve picked up speed, scattering startled workers out of his way as soldiers continued chasing him from behind. Rounding a corner he finally saw what he was looking for, a door to the outside, with a single nondescript man standing in front of it. Preparing to push him aside as he had the others, the soldier took a deep breath and abruptly stopped; the man in front of him was a Sentinel. HYDRA didn’t employ sentinels.

Watching the other sentinel closely, Steve saw when the other man came to the same conclusion about him in the look of shock that flitted across his face before being quickly suppressed. After a moment of silence the other man cleared his throat. “I wasn’t aware the _Sentinel of Liberty_ title was meant literally.”

Steve’s lips quirked up slightly. “In my defense, it wasn’t my idea.”

“I don’t see how it could’ve been.” He took a step forward and stretched out his right hand. “Sentinel Phil Coulson, or Agent Coulson if you prefer. It’s an honor to meet you Captain Rogers.” His lips twitched “or would you prefer Sentinel Rogers?”

Shaking the hand offered once firmly, Steve felt himself start to relax. “Steve is preferable but other than that, Captain is fine; not many people have ever known about my Sentinel status.”

The sounds of running footsteps had Steve tensing before Coulson stepped forward and waved the approaching soldiers away, leaving behind a single man wearing an eye patch and a black leather trench coat to finish approaching. Based on the man’s bearing and how he walked as if he owned the place, Steve figured this was the man in charge. Coulson took another step forward and gestured towards the man.

“Steve, allow me to introduce you to the man in charge of our operations, Director Nick Fury.” Turning to the Director he regarded the man with a small smile. “Director, meet Sentinel Steven Rogers.”

Fury raised an eyebrow but otherwise his face remained impassive as he studied the man he’d come down personally to debrief. “I guess that explains the bid for freedom then. You heard the surveillance equipment, I presume.”

“Among other things.” Steve shifted a little before falling into parade rest. “Sir, what’s going on here? The technology is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, not to mention the clothing and weapons. How long was I out?”

Fury nodded to himself. “After you went down there were extensive search parties sent out looking for you; some by the United States government, others funded privately. The territory we were searching was unfamiliar and it took a while to find you.” Clasping his hands behind his back, Fury straightened up a little more. “There’s no easy way to tell you this, Cap, but the year is 2013; you were out, frozen in the ice, nearly 70 years.”

* * *

 

_**Three Weeks Later** _

Steve followed Agent Coulson off of the transport and onto the helicarrier with a little thrill of anticipation and excitement running through him that he couldn’t explain. In the three weeks since he’d woken up the sentinel had been subjected to both the longest debrief in the history of mankind and a crash course on what he’d missed while missing in action. This wasn’t the first time he’d been allowed out of SHIELD headquarters in all that time but it was certainly the farthest; the excitement could be because of that or the fact that he was being brought into a new assignment but somehow, Steve didn’t think so. There was something else here. Walking the halls behind Coulson, the sentinel couldn’t help but take in his new surroundings, cataloguing advantages and disadvantages, fastest routes to and from the hangar, as well as the best defensive and offensive positions to take in case the carrier was boarded by hostiles. Adaptability was the key to survival, after all, and sentinels were more adaptable than most.

Reaching the bridge, Steve nodded in greeting to Director Fury and Deputy Director Hill, whom he’d met over a week ago, and listened while Coulson gave an update on current operations. He was just getting ready to give his own input when the conversation was interrupted by the appearance of a tall blond wearing a sleeveless leather vest and pants, twirling an arrow as he walked up to the group with a smirk. He stopped and gave Steve a once over. “You must be Captain America.” His smirk widened. “Nice Shield.”

Steve heard Coulson sigh as he snapped his fingers and pointed to his side. “Barton.”

Throwing one last glance in Steve’s direction, Barton sidled up to Coulson and leaned into his side. “Miss me?”

“You are a terrible handful; I have no idea what I did to deserve you.” Coulson replied as he pressed a kiss to the other man’s forehead. “Captain Rogers, allow me to introduce my Guide, Clint Barton. Clint, this is Captain Steve Rogers, he’ll be the team leader for the Avenger’s Initiative. He is also a sentinel and if you piss him off and force me to defend you I will take it out on your hide and you won’t sit for a month.”

“Promise?”

Steve had wondered what Coulson’s guide would be like and while the man standing before him wasn’t what he’d been expecting, he had to admit they fit in an odd sort of way. Watching the two interact he couldn’t quite repress the spike of longing for his own guide; he’d had no luck finding one before he’d been encased in the ice but methods had been improved since then and he hoped he might find one now. Fury already had plans to introduce him to every unbonded guide within the agency next week; maybe he’d get lucky.

Hearing another sigh, Steve looked over to see Fury with a pinched expression on his face. “Barton, where is Stark? You were supposed to bring him with you.”

“Stark?”

“Tony Stark, Howard’s son; Sentinel. He took over his father’s company after his parents died. He helped design the helicarrier and works as a consultant part time.”

Clint waited until Fury looked back over at him and shrugged. “He was down in the lower lab last I saw him; I stopped by to grab him but he said he was busy and would be up in a minute.”

“Barton-“ Fury growled.

“Sorry, sorry! I know I’m late, what did I miss?”

Turning to face the newcomer, Steve was first struck by his incredible likeness to Howard and then by something indefinable. There was something magnetic about the man but there was something else, too. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it…

“Damn it, Stark, I told you-”

“I was working; you know, ground breaking discoveries, the secrets of life and the universe, better, more efficient ways to brew coffee, Clint’s new bow-“

The guide perked up at that and flashed a grin. “New bow?”

“You know I love you, Barton. I want to strangle you half the time, but I still love you.”

“Feeling’s mutual, Stark.”

“If we could all focus here; Barton-shut the hell up, Stark-buy a goddamn watch. I don’t have the time or patience to listen to you two snark at each other.”

Steve watched the two men glance at each other before turning back to Fury and giving him identical insolent salutes. Coulson slapped the back of Barton’s head in retaliation. Unwillingly amused, the sentinel focused back on the brunette and found the man staring at him with a pinched look on his face.

“Captain America, I presume? Tony Stark; don’t tell me I look like my father, I hate that. How’s the twenty-first century treating you? Nicky introduce you to the monument to human narcissism that is the internet yet? You should ask him about LolCats, that’s always good for a giggle.”

Listening to the rapid fire babble, Steve couldn’t help but smile a little; there was just something about the man that drew him in. He’d been fighting a slight headache and some trouble with his senses all morning but now, listening to the smaller male, he felt himself being pulled back on an even keel. Stark continued to babble until Hill snapped at him and he settled down to business, handing over a tablet with the preliminary results from some tests he’d been conducting as well as a report detailing recommended upgrades to the helicarrier in order to increase engine efficiency and weapons output. Then, as quickly as he’d come in, the man was gone again, practically running off the bridge with an over the shoulder wave and a “See you later, Cap.”

Silence reigned for a minute before Clint let out a chuckle. “Tony Stark, ladies and gentlemen…and Fury.”

Hill grumbled something uncomplimentary under her breath and walked away while Fury stood going over something on the tablet he’d been handed. Coulson, on the other hand, was looking at Steve with a funny look on his face.

“Are you alright, Captain?”

Coming back to himself, Steve turned away from the doorway Tony had disappeared through, only now realizing he’d done nothing but stare at the engineer the entire time he’d been on the bridge. He cleared his throat. “I’m fine. There’s just something about him; I’ve got this weird feeling I can’t quite put my finger on-“

“Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t think to warn you-“

“Warn me? Warn me about what?”

The other sentinel looked uncomfortable for a minute, or about as uncomfortable as the normally unflappable man ever got, anyway. “A few years back Stark was giving a weapons demonstration in Afghanistan to a group of high ranking military generals when the convoy he was with was attacked and he was taken hostage; he was held against his will for three months before managing to escape. We don’t have the specifics about what happened during that time as he has always refused to speak of it but whatever happened during that time caused him to go dormant. That’s probably what you’re feeling; I’ve heard being around someone who’s dormant can make some high level sentinels uncomfortable. I’ve never really noticed anything myself but I’m also bonded and that provides an added buffer.”

Steve was silent for a moment before shaking his head. “He’s not dormant.”

Fury’s head whipped up and around. “He came back online as a sentinel? He knows he’s required to report a change like that! Damn that irritating-“

“No.”

“No? What do you mean no? You just said-“

“I know what I said, but he isn’t online as a sentinel-“ Steve replied, turning back towards the doorway Tony had left by.

“Then how the hell-“

Turning back, Steve interrupted the director with a raised hand and continued. “He isn’t online as a sentinel because I’m fairly certain he was never a sentinel at all.” The blond then turned away and left in search of Howard’s son, leaving surprised silence in his wake; all except for Barton who looked calculating and almost gleeful.

Hill was the first to break the silence. “Did he just imply that Tony Stark is a _Guide_?”

Heads came up and turned towards the bridge as Fury’s cussing and Clint’s laughter were heard echoing down the halls.

* * *

 _Jesus CHRIST, what is UP with this guy?_ Ducking around another corner, Tony took a moment to try and catch his breath. His day had started out well enough; he’d gotten a good amount of work in on the upgrades he wanted to do for the helicarrier, set up some additional tests for the Tesseract, had redesigned his suit four times and had consumed two pots of coffee. That had all changed when he started having trouble with his shields. He should have run right then.

When Tony had first come online as a guide his father hadn’t been pleased. Had, in fact, done everything he possibly could to hide that fact which included hiring him a private conservator and making sure that, while the official registry records said he was online, they never specified what he was online as. Everyone just assumed he was a sentinel, like every other Stark had been before him. The conservator had been a bland, uninteresting man who cared more about the money he was being paid to do his job and keep his mouth shut than in correcting anyone’s assumptions about his charge. Tony was actually grateful for that.

Even if Tony thought his conservator had the personality of a piece of cardboard, the man had known his business and he’d taught the younger Stark everything he knew. Tony had been shielding himself from people and their emotions ever since then with a ruthlessness most people didn’t see in him outside of his regular meetings with the board of directors for Stark Industries. As good as his shields were then, they’d only gotten better since Afghanistan; protecting his mind in that hell hole hadn’t just been a necessity for his sanity but also his survival. After that Tony had truly doubted there was a single person on the planet that would ever be able to tell what he was unless he dropped his mental shields completely.

Until now. Now, Tony was fighting a losing battle with himself to keep his shields in place and his secret protected and it was all the fault of one man; Captain Steven Rogers, Sentinel Steven Rogers. Tony figures he started having trouble when the man first set foot on the helicarrier and it had been getting steadily worse the longer he remained on board. That was the real reason he’d been late to the meeting; he’d been attempting to get himself under control. Stepping on to the bridge, however, had shown him how futile the effort really was; the sheer presence of the other man battered at his shields, demanding to be let in. He panicked. Running his mouth in the most irritating way possible ensured that Fury and Hill were more than happy to have him run back to his lab without the detailed explanations they usually required in his reports and Tony did so gratefully. He figured he’d have no trouble avoiding the good Captain until he could procure a ride back to Stark Tower; there he could fix his flagging control and find a way to avoid the man altogether.

That had been the plan, anyway…until the man he was trying to avoid decided he didn’t want to _be_ avoided. First he’d shown up at the lab where Tony was working; Tony had made some excuse and high-tailed it out of there…only to be followed and found again. And again. And AGAIN. Each time the sentinel had caught up with him he’d looked as though he was working on a puzzle and each piece was falling quickly into place. And that brought Tony back to where he was now; hiding in the darkened corner of an unused storage room in the bowels of the carrier trying to catch his breath. This was just getting ridiculous.

Tony slid down the wall to sit on the floor and rubbed a hand over the arc reactor, right over the place where he could feel the emptiness inside, the ache that wouldn’t go away until he’d bonded with a sentinel…his sentinel. It wasn’t like he didn’t want it; who wouldn’t want to find the other half of their soul- the one person that was made for him like he was made for them? The only problem was that it was the one thing he could never have; he’d had that drummed into him as a child. But _God_ , he wanted it anyway.

* * *

Steve stalked down another hallway following the faint scent trail left behind by Tony as he had made yet another excuse and run off. This was the sixth time the man had managed to get away from him; it was frustrating…but also kind of fun. Every time he caught up with the elusive engineer, his inner sentinel sat up and took notice a little more, and the inner monologue of _mine, mine, mine!_ got a little louder. He hadn’t been completely sure when they’d been on the bridge, but Steve was positive now that Tony was a Guide. Even more, he was pretty sure that Tony was _his_ guide. Now if he could only pin the man in one place long enough to know for certain; he had the most impressive shields of anyone he’d ever encountered outside of high level bonded sentinel/guide pairs.

Rounding the corner Steve came to an intersection and stopped. Tony had come through here before and the area was saturated with his scent from him wandering around and doubling back a few times; it would take Steve an extra few minutes to figure out which was the trail he actually needed to follow, allowing Tony to get farther away. Tricky guide. This wouldn’t be as difficult if he’d had time to properly imprint on the helicarrier and its crew the way he’d intended to once on board.

“Misplace something? Or would that be some _one_?”

“Barton. Does your sentinel know you skulk about in the ductwork?” Steve asked, looking up at the blond perched in an opening above his head.

The guide grinned. “What my sentinel doesn’t know…” Grabbing the edge of his seat the archer dropped down and landed in front of an amused looking Rogers. “So, about what you’re looking for…”

Steve studied the man in front of him for a moment, taking in his amusement and the way he kept looking at him as though waiting for something. Then it clicked. “You knew that Tony was guide, didn't you? You’ve known all along.”

Clint rocked back on his heels and stuck his hands in his pockets as his grin got bigger. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Steve snorted and opened his mouth but the guide rolled right over him. “Now, since I can’t speak about what I obviously don’t know, I can only speak about what I _do_ know.” He paused. “Stuff like how Hill refuses to show her face, no matter how dire the circumstance, without make up on, or how many people on board sing really shitty music in the shower…” He sauntered across to one of the side passages and leaned against the wall. “I also know that you’ve got Tony running like his ass is on fire and that if you go down this hallway _here_ , then go down the stairs and to the left you’ll eventually come to a storage area that most people don’t know about simply because it isn’t in use. That’s what I know.”

Steve offered the other man a smile and moved past him. “Thanks, Clint.” He was half way down the hall before Clint’s voice caught up with him again, all traces of amusement gone.

“I also know, Captain, that if you in any way hurt Tony Stark, that you will answer to me and there won’t ever be a place you can hide that I can’t find you. Just so _you_ know.”

Turning around, Steve looked the man in the eye and nodded, getting a salute in return, before he continued on his way. He’d had enough of playing hide and seek; it was time to collect his guide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D Answers will be coming in the next chapter so everyone wondering about Tony's issues with being a guide will finally have their curiosity satiated.


	3. Bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMFG I'm so sorry for the delay on this chapter. I had it all mapped out but actually getting it on paper was an exercise in two steps forward, one step back. I can't tell you how many times I went back and changed things because I've lost count. -.- In other news, SEX. This chapter has it so you may consider yourselves warned. I've already updated the story tags to reflect this and if you don't want to read it, you can get through over half of the chapter before it comes up. *No pun intended* Trust me, you'll know when it starts. If you want to skip it, just go past everything until you come to a line break and you can safely read again. I've never written anything like this before so I'm really hoping it doesn't suck!

Tony sat for about ten minutes, just trying to figure out what to do, before deciding it was safe enough to leave his temporary hiding spot; he knew it would only be a matter of time before the Captain managed to track him down and the genius planned to be off the helicarrier before that could happen. Screw waiting for the helicopter, he’d take his suit. Granted this would clue Fury into the fact that the briefcase he always brought with him was more than it seemed but desperate times called for desperate measures. And Tony was definitely becoming desperate. Pushing himself to his feet, he quickly brushed his pants off and took a step towards the door when a noise out in the hall had him freezing in place. Tony stood and listened for a moment but when no other sound reached his ears, he closed the remaining distance to the exit and put his ear to the door. Hearing no movement, the genius let out a relieved sigh and opened the door…only to run face first into the very man he’d been avoiding all day.

The Captain offered him a satisfied looking grin. “Found you.”

Stumbling back in shock, Tony tripped and would have fallen but the sentinel in front of him was faster, reaching out to grab and pull him back into the broad chest of the man who’d turned his entire world upside down in less than a day.

Amused blue eyes met panicked brown as Steve kept his grip on the smaller male and shuffled him fully back into the room, shutting the door behind them. “Not that I didn’t enjoy the chase you led me on today, but it’s time you and I had a little talk, don’t you think so, Mr. Stark? Or should I say _Guide_?”

Tony swallowed hard and averted his eyes; he was in so much trouble. Just minutes back in the other man’s presence and he could already feel his shields thinning; it wouldn’t take much more before they started to crack and then came down altogether. The only reason they hadn’t already could only be chalked up to sheer dumb luck and the fact that he was wearing long sleeves; any skin to skin contact and Tony knew he’d lose whatever control he had left. His only chance at this point was to extract himself as quickly as possible and deflect, deflect, deflect.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He hid a wince and silently berated himself; lame Tony, that was so, so lame. “The Starks are Sentinels, everyone knows that.” Better. “So I’m not really sure what you…” Looking up he found his gaze caught once more and began to falter. “I mean, I’m not…it isn’t…I’m _not_ …”

“Tony.” Steve watched as the engineer shut his mouth with a snap. “You know you can’t lie to a sentinel, right?” he watched as the man in his arms paled. “Listen, I don’t know why you don’t want anyone knowing that you’re a guide; I’m hoping you’ll eventually tell me but I won’t push you for that right now. What I do need to know is whether or not you want a bond as much as I do. Because I do, Tony, I want this with everything I am; I’ve wanted it since I first came online. I know that we don’t know each other, and I can’t wait to know everything about you, but I need to know I’m not the only one that feels the connection between us because, right now, there isn’t one doubt in my mind that you’re my guide. You’re _mine_ , Tony.”

The brunette swallowed. “I…” Tony didn’t know what to say; all the words he usually couldn’t help spewing out seemed stuck in his throat and he was left staring helplessly at the man that held him.

“ _Tony_.” He pulled the shorter male closer. “Just what are you afraid of?”

Tony just mutely shook his head.

Raising his right hand, Steve gently cupped the side of the engineer’s face and ran his thumb over the tanned cheek bone. “I would never hurt you… _never_.”

At the first gentle touch of skin on skin, Tony sucked in a harsh breath and a hard shudder moved through his body as the last desperate grip on his control was lost and his shields came down. All the feelings he’d been trying to keep to himself were suddenly out in the open: the shock, the confusion, the fear; everything he’d always kept hidden from the world behind various masks was just pouring out and Tony had no way to stop it, wasn’t sure if he even wanted to. Layered over everything else though was pure desire for the one thing he thought he’d never have, that he’d been told he never _could_ have, all wrapped up in one supremely attractive sentinel who was currently looking at him like he was the center of the universe. Letting out a whimper he would deny to the day he died, Tony caved, fisting his hands in his, _his!_ sentinel’s shirt and burying his face in the side of the other man’s neck.

Steve stiffened briefly in surprise at the onslaught of emotion before moving to cradle his guide in his arms, and there was no mistake that Tony Stark was in fact _his_ guide; the moment the other man’s shields had failed he’d known for sure. Tightening his grip, Steve buried his nose in Tony’s hair and began murmuring assurances and promises to the other man, occasionally running a hand up and down his spine in an effort to comfort and calm him down. He wasn’t sure how long they stood like that, wrapped up in each other, before a noise out in the hall drew his attention. Focusing his hearing away from the man who was essentially his everything, the sentinel heard a throat clearing and then Barton’s voice floated to him through the door sounding faintly amused.

“Sentinel Rogers? Based on the emotional backlash I’m getting out here, I can assume Stark finally conceded defeat so congratulations on netting yourself a guide; I’m sure he’ll eventually forgive you for it.” A sigh followed by an exasperated “Barton” was heard next before a momentary pause and the guide continued. “In all seriousness, as much as I’m sure you’d like to continue things here, the helicarrier isn’t really appropriate and Tony would probably appreciate more privacy before things escalate between you two. I’ve put a temporary shield around the room so no one else is currently privy to what’s going on but in order to get you both off of the carrier and somewhere more private I need to come in a place a shield around Tony directly; I don’t think he’s going to be able to recover them on his own until you bond. My sentinel will stay out in the hall.”

After another moment of silence the door opened and the archer stepped in and made his way over to the pair still wrapped around each other. Glancing at Rogers briefly for permission and receiving a nod, he then put a hand on Tony’s shoulder and after about thirty seconds all the emotions he’d been privy to since the scientist’s control had failed began to lessen until only he and the Captain were getting anything and then only because they were both still in contact with the smaller male. Clint could feel the tension slowly seep out of the shoulder underneath his hand and offered a small smile when his fellow guide raised his head and looked at him; the scientist looked completely wrecked.

“I’d ask how you’re feeling but…”

Tony winced. “Yeah, about that…”

“I took care of it, man, don’t worry; no one past this room knows what’s going on. The shield I’ve put in place won’t last indefinitely, however, so we need to get you both out of here and to…Stark Tower, I’m assuming?”

Taking a breath, the brunette nodded. “Yeah. It’s completely sentinel friendly and has the best shielding technology on the planet, which is obvious since I created it, and I can put my floors on lockdown at anytime. I just don’t know how to get there without gaining Fury’s incredibly unwelcome attention.”

“You leave that to us.”

Frowning a little, Tony straightened up but didn’t let go of his sentinel. “Please don’t tell me your plan involves the vents.” When all he got was a wide grin in reply, Tony let out a groan and dropped his head back into Steve’s chest. “Not comforting, Barton, not comforting at all.”

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Steve and Tony watched as the helicopter Clint had ‘borrowed’ flew away back towards the helicarrier before they made their way inside the building Tony called home while in New York. Settling down on what proved to be an incredibly comfortable couch, Steve couldn’t help but watch as his guide roamed the large space, first initiating a lockdown of the floor and then wandering over to a bar in the corner where he hesitated over the bottles of aged whiskey before reaching into a small fridge and grabbing a pair of water bottles instead.

“Not that I couldn’t do with a stiff drink right now, but I’m sure you’d rather I not be drunk for this conversation.”

“You don’t have to-“

“Yes I do.” Tony replied. “I really do.” Walking over to the man sprawled on the couch, he handed him one of the bottles and sat a few feet away. “I know it isn’t what you’d prefer but it will probably be easier if we aren’t touching while we discuss this; if you touch me again I’m going to want to bond and I owe it to you, to us both, to give you an explanation of my behavior before we do.”

Nodding his understanding, Steve settled back into the cushions and waited patiently for the other man to begin.

Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Tony took a mouthful of water before setting the bottle aside and clearing his throat. “My father never found his guide; I’m not sure how or if that effected him but I thought I’d throw that out there since, based on your own accounts, he was a very different man when you knew him. My father met my mother at a society function in 1976; she was the only daughter of a man who’d made his billions in the oil industry and from a business perspective, I guess it was a good match. I’d like to say he really cared for her, that they loved each other but the truth is I just don’t know. With all the fighting they did, even if there was love between them in the beginning, it’s fairly obvious that it didn’t last.”

Stopping to take another drink, Tony slouched down and began rolling the bottle between his hands. “When I was a kid, all I heard from Howard was how the Starks were a bloodline filled with Sentinels, generation upon generation of Sentinels in one unbroken genealogical line. When he wasn’t harping about the Stark genetic legacy it was instead about how we as weapons manufacturers were, in part, so successful because people knew and trusted that sentinels were best equipped to protect the tribe and that sentinels would always be more successful than mundanes in that regard. Add in my dad’s genius and it was a winning combination. So, with all that in mind, when I went for testing at the age of ten, it was widely assumed by everyone, myself included, that I’d be a sentinel like every other Stark male before me.”

“Fairly obvious right now that that isn’t the case.”

The scientist huffed out a humorless laugh. “Obviously not. The woman who oversaw my testing… Natasha? Naomi? No. Natalie, that’s it, Natalie looked fairly shocked when she was done but everything pretty much went to hell before she could tell me what was going on. See, there was this latent guide scheduled to come in, came from a completely mundane family so testing hadn’t been mandated for her as a kid; she apparently found out by accident when the guide giving her an interview for a job realized what she was, but anyway, not important. Her family apparently had some prejudice against guides and when they found out she was latent they tracked her down at the center before she could be formally registered and they all got into it. The fight was upsetting enough that the girl completely lost it; her gifts came online pretty explosively and since she wasn’t under shielding, she projected everything outwards and everyone in a ten mile radius was affected, including me.”

“You came online?”

“Boy did I ever. I was apparently close and would’ve come online anyway within a few months but the overload of emotion brought me online early. It was horrible and painful but the aftermath was worse.”

Steve winced. “Howard?”

“Did _not_ take it well, to put it mildly. I’m fairly sure he would’ve sued the center if he felt he could get away with it without the knowledge that I was a guide coming to light. In the end he still pretty much blackmailed the director into listing that I was online but not what I was online _as_ ; with the family history everyone just assumed I was a sentinel, just like dear old dad wanted.”

“But _why_? With all the fighting we did for guide’s rights during the war I just don’t see-“

Tony shrugged. “I figure part of it was pride; it probably seemed like something of a failure when he found out he’d produced a guide instead of the sentinel everyone was expecting. Another part, I think, had to do with you.” He offered the other man a small smile. “You were, and still are, the epitome of what a sentinel _is_ and I think there was some part of him that was hoping he could raise me to, at least in some way, be like you. That obviously wasn’t going to happen if I wasn’t a sentinel to begin with. The rest of it had to do with his company. I can’t tell you how many lectures I got about securing the future of Stark Enterprises, how the company would fail and thousands would lose their jobs if anyone found out a guide was next in line for CEO instead of a sentinel. He even refused to let me go for training at the center for fear that it would get out to the public; he eventually hired a conservator for me but even then it was only because my mother argued for it. She said it would be more suspicious for me not to have any training at all then for everyone to know I was getting private instruction at home. So, from that point forward I was taught how to control my guide gifts in private, and how to hide them, while Howard was out telling everyone else I was a sentinel and how I would be carrying on the Stark family legacy.”

“Jesus, Tony.”

“Yeah, well. I hated it, hated every moment that I had to hide what I was but in the end, it turned out that Howard, damn him, was right.”

Steve frowned. “What do you mean?”

“After the news got out that my parents had died, there was this huge uproar over the future of the company and its employees. You should’ve seen all the news reports and articles that had been worried that a mundane would have to step in temporarily; the board was having fits and stock prices were dropping. That mess didn’t even begin to die down until it was made public that my father’s partner, another sentinel, was going to take over until I was old enough to claim control. So, as much as I hated it, I also didn’t see another choice; I had a greater responsibility to the people that worked for me and if people knew I wasn’t what Howard had always claimed…well. I’m sure you can see how bad things would’ve been.”

Steve nodded. “I hate that you had to do that; I understand it, but I still hate it.”Draining half of the bottle he still held, the sentinel capped it and then leaned forward. “What I don’t understand is why Director Fury and Agent Coulson thought you were dormant.”

“Ah, well…” Looking uncomfortable, Tony glanced down at his hands and cleared his throat. “A few years ago I was giving a weapon’s demonstration overseas, Afghanistan if you care, when the convoy I was with was attacked and I was taken hostage; I was there for three months. While they had me they demanded that I build them weapons and when I refused…well…you were in war, I’m sure you can figure out what happened. It was hell but I just couldn’t do what they wanted; I refused to let myself travel down that path. Even worse, though, was when they took me outside and I saw that, even as I continued to refuse to build them anything, I had already armed them; everywhere I looked there were crates of Stark weapons. I had no idea how they’d gotten them and at the time it didn’t matter; all I could think about was how the weapons I’d made to help protect the tribe was instead being used against it. Eventually I managed to escape and by the time I got home, I had decided that I wasn’t going to mass produce weapons anymore. I knew that the stock prices would drop and the company would be hurt if I just announced that out of the blue so I let it slip that I’d gone dormant as a result of my time in captivity.”

Tony could see when understanding dawned for the other man. “Because if people thought you were dormant, there was a chance that you’d come back online and people could blame the decision to stop weapons production on your status. If you were still listed as fully online, however, everyone would have thought you’d just lost your mind and the company would’ve suffered more losses.”

“Got it in one, Cap.”

“Well damn.”

Tony let out a chuckle and gave the blond a smile. “There was one good outcome though.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Most guides have stopped throwing themselves at me when I make appearances in public. A few still try under the mistaken idea that they’ll be the one to ‘fix me’ but it isn’t nearly as bad as it was. Some of those men and women were downright scary.” Tony gave an exaggerated shudder and felt a little spike of pleasure when the other male laughed.

Silence fell between the two as they shared a smile but after a minute Tony spoke up again. “There is one other thing you should know; you know, in the interest of full disclosure and everything.” Seeing he had the other man’s attention, the genius opened his mouth, shut it, scrunched his face up in irritation and then abruptly stood and pulled his shirt over his head. Where it hadn’t been noticeable before, the glow of the arc reactor embedded in his chest was now glaringly obvious and Steve’s eyes shot to it as he inhaled sharply.

“That- what is that? Is that in your-?”

“Chest? Yes. Yes it is. This,“ he tapped one finger against the casing “is an arc reactor. Simply put it’s a self sustaining power source attached to an electromagnet which is keeping shrapnel from reaching my heart.”

“Shrapnel-?” The sentinel’s brows furrowed momentarily and then cleared. “Afghanistan.”

Tony nodded. “Afghanistan.”

Steve swallowed hard and continued to stare at Tony’s chest before sliding off the couch onto his knees, hands reaching out to grab and haul the other male forward so he could bury his face in the lightly tanned abdomen with a quiet sound of distress. The genius shuddered at the pure _want_ that shot through his system at the contact and reached out to card shaking fingers through the blond hair in front of him. “Hey, its okay. Its fine, I’m fine.”

“I waited, I waited all that time…and then the ice…” he rubbed his face against the lightly furred skin and tightened his grip “And after all that I still almost lost you before I’d even found you.” Taking a deep breath, Steve raised his head to look up into the brown eyes above him. “Tony, I can’t…I _need_ -“

“Yes. Just, yes.”

Surging up off of the ground, the soldier grabbed Tony’s face in between his palms and brought their lips together in a bruising kiss. Letting out a whimper, Tony immediately moved to deepen the kiss, opening his lips at the first touch of his sentinel’s tongue. The slick muscles stroked against one another as Steve plundered his guide’s mouth, learning the contours and unique taste of the man before him. Breaking apart with a wet noise, the two leaned their foreheads together as they fought to catch their breaths and after a moment, Tony offered up a smirk.

“So the conversation portion of the evening is obviously over.”

“Obviously.”

“Bonding now?”

“Bonding. Bedroom?”

Tony untangled one of his hands and pointed back over his shoulder. “Back that wa- HEY!” Hands scrambling for purchase as he suddenly found himself thrown over the larger man’s shoulder, Tony barely had time to regain some semblance of balance before they entered the room, the door was kicked shut and he was set down on the edge of the mattress. Looking up to say something that would have no doubt shown him for the master of snark and witticism he usually is, the genius instead found his mouth dropping open as he watched the Captain strip off his shirt. Closing his mouth, Tony stared at all the exposed muscles before leaning back on his hands, lips curling up in a smile.

“Well, hello there; forget milk, _serum_ does a body good.” Tilting his head to the side, Tony continued letting his eyes roam. “I suddenly feel like I just won the sentinel/guide lottery and I never even entered…I’m also thinking that when we go to register our bond that I should go fully armed.”

Steve’s lips twitched. “Tony…”

“No seriously. I can already see the unbonded guides rushing to throw themselves at your feet in an effort to prove themselves worthy and slow our progress into the Center while others wait in the wings for an opportunity to strike.”

“Tony.”

“Unbonded guides can be dangerous.”

“Tony, I really don’t-“

“They travel in _packs_.”

Startled into a laugh, Steve stepped forward and leaned down to press a hard kiss on Tony’s lips, humming a little in pleasure as the other man immediately opened for him. Pulling back and avoiding the grabby hands aimed his way, the blond moved his hands to the waist band of his pants and popped open the button, smirking at the way Tony’s eyes dilated as they followed the motion. “Strip for me, Tony.”

Throwing himself off of the bed in his haste to comply, the genius divested himself of his clothing in record time and then watched with undisguised pleasure as Steve finished doing the same. The man really was a work of art. “Can I just say how thankful I am you obviously have no interest in a platonic bond?” He sucked in a breath as a hand ghosted over his side. “I mean I am really, _really_ -“ Cutting himself off at the feel of lips moving across his jaw, Tony tilted his head back and reached out for Steve’s biceps in order to steady himself. The shields Barton had put in place were rapidly thinning and he could feel the lust and need rolling off of his sentinel in waves as he felt himself start to harden; it was without a doubt the most amazing and erotic experience of his life and they hadn’t even gotten to the sex yet. Hands roamed with purpose over his skin as Tony allowed himself to be arranged on the bed and one glance at the predatory gaze directed his way showed that the affable man who had done his best to make the engineer feel at ease was gone, replaced by the sentinel inside and his need to connect in every way possible with his guide.

“Have you ever been with a man before?”

The question was unexpected and Tony was silent for a few seconds before clearing his throat. “Yes but not since…let’s just say it’s been a while.” He took a moment to eye the other man. “What about you? I mean, you seem awfully comfortable with all of this and every history I’ve read has implied that you’re-“

“A virgin?” Steve grinned. “I was in the army, losing your virginity was practically part of the training regimen.”

The sentinel sat back on his heels and took in the way his guide’s eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed. “Beautiful.” The laughter cut off as a surprised blush stole across the smaller male’s cheeks.

“You can’t- you can’t say things like that!”

“Why not? It’s the truth.” And it was. His guide was an attractive man, all lean muscles and smooth tan skin; not even the scars surrounding the arc reactor detracted from his appeal, instead enhancing it with the strength they represented. The need to claim what was his was nearly overwhelming at this point and watching as the brunette beneath him squirmed and came to full hardness under his scrutiny, Steve decided there was no reason to wait any longer. The process of bonding was a simple one and involved the sentinel essentially glutting his or herself on their guide using all five senses to form a full imprint. Once the pair had made a connection physically, both the sentinel and guide would then drop their shields fully and connect on the mental plane, the two entwining their very souls together, ensuring they’d never again be apart.

Leaning forward, Steve used his body to cover Tony’s smaller frame like a blanket and claimed his mouth in a deep probing kiss, waiting until he felt the man beneath him relax into the mattress before moving to drop feather light kisses across his guide’s forehead, cheeks and jaw. Trailing his lips down to rest above the pulse hammering in Tony’s throat, the blond pressed a gentle kiss to the spot and then shifted to the juncture where neck and shoulder met, giving the spot a small lick before biting down and then sucking. Tony shuddered and let out a low moan as Steve continued to work the spot, bringing up a mark that would be too big to hide.

Releasing the patch of skin he’d been working on, Steve let out a satisfied grumble at the size of the bruise he’d left behind before resuming his downward path, hands constantly moving, memorizing his guide’s body by touch, learning the spots that made the shorter male moan and arch up into the contact. Reaching the arc reactor, he then took the time to kiss, lick and nibble every scar surrounding the device, all while he focused his hearing on the quiet whirring of the reactor and the unique cadence of Tony’s heart; two sounds that would forever be tied to his guide and would help the sentinel find him should they ever become separated. Placing another pair of kisses, one on the reactor itself and the other on the skin over the engineer’s heart, Steve then moved down again, smoothing his hands over Tony’s sides and over the tops of his thighs, both of them moaning at the slide of skin over skin.

Settling on his stomach in between his guide’s legs, Steve looked up and took in his guide’s appearance, skin flushed and covered with a light sheen of sweat, before offering the other man a smirk and running his tongue from the base of the dick in front of him up to the spongy head, collecting the drops of pre-cum that had gathered there. The taste exploded on his tongue, salty and slightly bitter and completely _Tony_ , and Steve dimly registered the choked off curse the brunette let out as he moved to lightly suck on the head before slowly taking as much of the other man as he could into his mouth. The blond then began bobbing his head up and down, experimenting with speed and suction, learning the best way to get his guide off. Tony let out a high pitched whine, hands clenching and unclenching in the sheets, and his hips bucked up into the moist heat before he found himself being held down by a firm yet gentle hand across his abdomen. A careful application of teeth and tongue had Tony crying out his release a short time later, something that pleased his sentinel if the satisfied look on Steve’s face as he swallowed every drop was any indication.

“Come up here, just, come here.”

Letting his guide’s dick go with a soft pop, Steve pressed a kiss onto the inside of one thigh before leaning up to share a very wet, very dirty kiss with the man he’d just taken apart. Separating only when the need to breathe overcame the desire to remain together, the two men shared a moment of silence broken only by sound of harsh panting.

“Please tell me you have lube somewhere close by.”

“In the drawer.”

Stealing another kiss, Steve fumbled to get the nightstand open as his own neglected cock drug against Tony’s hip, leaving a wet trail behind, the friction pulling a moan from him as he finally found the bottle he’d been searching for. Settling back on his heels, he then took another moment to look over the panting and flushed form of his guide before directing him to turn over and raise his hips. Pressing a line of sucking kisses down Tony’s spine, Steve resettled himself between the brunette’s thighs and separated his cheeks with his hands.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Tony frowned. “Steve? What’re you-? _JESUS!_ ”

The first broad swipe of his sentinel’s tongue over his opening caught the genius completely off guard and he jerked forward a little before regaining control of himself. The second swipe made him curl his toes and at the third he let out a whimper as he attempted to relax the muscle Steve was oh so patiently working on. Soon broad strokes were mixed with sucking kisses and light nibbles until Tony had relaxed enough that the soldier could press his tongue inside. Crying out at the sensation, the guide widened his stance and was soon rocking his hips back to meet the thrusts, sobbing out his pleasure as his cock returned to full hardness. Giving one last swipe over the furled opening, Steve quickly slicked up two fingers and shoved them inside, scissoring the digits to further stretch his guide’s already loose opening. Two fingers quickly turned to three before he removed them with a wet noise and turned Tony back around so that they were facing each other once more. He’d waited a long time for this and didn’t want to miss a moment of the smaller male’s reactions. Lining himself up with the loosened hole, Steve paused and met Tony’s eyes; his pupil’s were completely blown and it was obvious he was just _gone_ on all the stimulation.

“Are you ready?”

Swallowing, the brunette nodded…and let the last tenuous grasp on his control go. Both sets of shields dropped and for the first time Steve felt the full weight and connection of his guide’s mind. Both men shuddered at the contact, at the unexpected intimacy of the connection that went so far beyond the physical. As the bond between them began to take shape, flashes of memory and experiences bounced back and forth across the mental tethers, telling each man more about the other than words could truly express.

_**“Mom, where’s dad?” “ I’m sorry, sweetie, he won’t be coming home tonight-“** _

_“-he’s down working on the docks-“_

_“-he’s busy working in the lab-“_

_“-you know how he is when he drinks, he doesn’t mean it-“_

_“-Its better if you just stay out of his way when he’s like this-“_

_“I’m sorry, but we did everything we could for your mother-“_

_“I regret to inform you, Mr. Stark, that there has been an accident-“_

_**“Don’t you know when to quit?”** _

_“I could do this all day.”_

_“I can’t stop now; I have too much work to do.”_

_“Don’t win the war without me.”_

_“You can win the war with the push of a button.”_

_“-Put a bullet in the barrel of your best guy’s gun-”_

_“-this is the Fun-vee-“_

_“We’ll need to catch this train-“_

_“Rhodey!”_

_“Bucky!”_

_“I refuse to make any more weapons.”_

_“I refuse to leave anyone behind.”_

_“Looks like the golden goose had one more egg to lay.”_

_“There’s only one thing left I can do.”_

_“I can’t let him win.”_

_“I can’t let all those people die.”_

_“I’m Tony Stark-“_

_“Steve Rogers-“_

_“Iron Man-“_

_“Captain America-“_

_“-genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist-“_

_“-just a guy from Brooklyn, hero, soldier-“_

_“GUIDE.”_

_“SENTINEL.”_

The bond suddenly snapped into place with an almost physical force, both men crying out in shock and relief. Steve could feel his guide in every fiber of his being and Tony’s shields, which had begun to falter upon their meeting, were now strong and flexible, appearing almost golden with the force and protection of his sentinel’s presence in his mind. The two stared at each other in silence before Steve adjusted his grip on Tony’s hips and thrust himself home. The guide’s breath caught in his throat at the sudden intrusion only to let it go on a drawn out moan as the other man began to move. The thrusts were at first slow and deep, allowing each man to get used to the sensation, before they began to speed up, bodies slapping together as they each strove to pleasure the other. The room began to fill with various cries and grunts as the air became heavy with the smell of sweat and sex.

“Steve, please! I need…I…”

Reaching out, Tony grabbed a hold of his sentinel and yanked him forward, mashing their lips together in a messy meeting of tongues and teeth. The kiss changed the angle of his thrusts and as Steve leaned forward and adjusted his stance, the man beneath him threw his head back with an almost pained whine, eyes wide.

The blond let out an almost savage grin. “There it is.”

Folding the genius almost completely in half, Steve then began moving even faster, hips pistoning, as the bed frame began to thump into the wall with the force of the movement. The whine coming from the man beneath him was near constant now and as he got closer to completion, he began babbling.

“God you feel so good! You’re amazing, just amazing, just- There, right there, Steve, Oh GOD. Steve, Jesus, I _need_ , I- _FUCK! STEVE!_ ”

Arching his back, Tony yelled out his sentinel’s name as he came for the second time, cum erupting out of him like a geyser. The sudden vice around his cock had Steve quickly following suit, his vision going white from the force of it as his dick continued to pulse, coating his guide’s warm channel with another mark of ownership. Coming back to himself, the blond gently lowered Tony’s legs and pulled out, mindful of any discomfort he may have caused the smaller male. Giving in to the engineer’s grabby hand motions, Steve settled back on top him and indulged in a long, slow kiss as their muscles continued to twitch with the aftershocks of their orgasms. Feeling the lassitude that comes after really great sex, Steve untangled himself from Tony and forced himself to get up and clean them both off, grabbing the shirt he’d discarded earlier. Tossing the piece of clothing back onto the floor once done, he then moved back to the bed and, after some maneuvering, got Tony under the blankets where he promptly cuddled into his sentinel’s chest and fell asleep, Steve quickly following behind.

* * *

Stretching sore muscles, Tony let out a satisfied groan; God he felt good. He didn’t know what time it was but the smell of coffee suggested he’d slept through the night, something he rarely managed before Afghanistan but even less in the years after. Lifting his head off of the broad chest he’d been using as a pillow, he then tilted his face up to get a good look at the sleeping visage of his sentinel. He still couldn’t believe it; _His Sentinel._ The thought was almost enough to make him giddy and he could feel the smile stretching his lips.

“I’d ask what has you in such a good mood but I’m pretty sure I already know the answer to that.” Blue eyes opened and regarded the man currently grinning like a loon. Giving a smile of his own, Steve prodded the smaller male onto his back and proceeded to give him a very thorough kiss. “Good morning, Guide.”

“Good morning, Sentinel.”After a shared moment of grinning like idiots at each other, Tony’s expression sobered. “You know this won’t be easy, being bonded to me. I’ve hidden behind too many masks, been too much of an asshole, to just completely let it go.”

“That’s okay. I know it’ll be hard but we’ll work on it; I’ll help you. Whatever you need.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, then.” Tony tilted his head up and brushed a soft kiss across Steve’s lips before grinning again. “You get to tell Fury.”

Blue eyes blinked rapidly in surprise as the implications of that soaked in and the blond dropped his head with a groan. “God Damn It.”

Tony just carded his fingers through the soft strands of hair tucked under his chin and laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah. That all just happened. Writing the sex scene was much harder than anticipated though maybe it'll get easier as time goes on. If anyone was confused about the scene with all the italics, it was all memories floating back and forth between Tony and Steve; the bold italics were shared instances.


End file.
